Self-centering funnel



N 0 s L E N Q S Aug. 3,

CENTERING FUNNEL SELF- Filed Sept. 7, 1945 INVENTOR.

Patented Aug. 3, 1948 SELF-CENTERING FUNNEL Seddon 0. Nelson, Front Royal, Va.,

Viscose Corporation, Wilmington, a corporation of Delaware American DeL,

assignor to Application September 7, 1945, Serial No. 615,017

Claims. i The present invention adapted to control the delivery of filaments, yarns and the like into centrifugal buckets, such as are used for collecting freshly spun filamentary material during their production on artificial filament spinning machines.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a self-centering funnel so that ii.

. the. funnel should happen to be mounted in an oil-center position, it will automatically center itself simply by virtue of the pull of the yarn at the discharge end of the funnel, Otherobiects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the drawing and description thereof hereinafter.

The drawing is illustrative of preferred embodiments and- Figure 1 thereof is an elevation in cross-section showing the mounting of the guide and its relationship to a spinning bucket,

Figure 2 is an elevation of the spherical bearing surface provided on the guide, and

Figure 3 is an elevation showing a modification.

In general, the present invention provides a spherical bearing for the funnel which allows a certain amount of oscillation of the funnel within the bearing. The center of gravity of the guide and the portion of the hearing which moves with it is substantially at the center of the spherical bearing surface and damping means is provided to retard the movements of the guide.

.As shown in Figures 1 and 2, a guide2 having the general shape of a funnel is supported on a bracket 3 adapted to be carried by the traverse rail of the spinning machine and the funnel discharges the thread t from its lower end into the rapidly rotating spinning bucket 5 which may be driven in conventional manner and has a conventional cover 6 secured in place by any conrelates to a thread guidev ventional means such as a rubber ring 1. The

bracket 3 carries a socket member 8 having a spherical bearing surface 9 and a bore I0 substantially greater in diameter than that of the guide. The guide 2 is secured within the sleeve ii of a floating bearing l2. The lower end of sleeve i I is somewhat enlarged to provide a sphericai bearing surface l3 adapted to cooperate with the spherical bearing surface 9 within the socket member 8. Damping means is provided between socket member 8 and the floating bearing l2. As shown, this means may take the form of an annular well i l within the socket member 8 and an annular skirt I5 depending from the bearing member l2 and extending into the well It. In

operating position as shown, the skirt i5 is spaced at all portions from the adjacent walls defining the interior of the well M and the space between the skirt I5 and the walls of the well it is at least partially filled with a viscous liquid I B. The bearing member l2 may be provided with a rim l l which overhangs but is spaced from the upper edge of the outer wall of well It. The sleeve H is also spaced from the inner wall of the well it, so that the floating bearing i2 is at all points free to swing about the spherical joint defined by the spherical surfaces 9 and i3.

Figure 3 shows a modification which is substantially identical with that shown in Figure 1, except that two annular sealing sleeves it and it are provided to prevent the viscous liquid from being thrown out of the mounting. Each of these seals comprises a highly flexible body portion in the form of a thin sleeve of rubber, synthetic rubber, or any suitable flexible material. Each end of the body portion is .preferably provided with a somewhat thickened rim 20 at each end.

To assemble the mounting, the flexible sleeve 19 is sealed over the sleeve ii so that one of the rims 20 is positioned as-shown. One ofthe rims 20 of the'seal i8 is then slid into its place over the skirt I5. Thereupon, the socket member 8 is slipped over the lower end of the funnel and the free end rim 20 of seal it is fitted into the shouldered portion provided at the top of the inner wall of well I l. Then the free end rim 20 of seal I8 is similarly slipped into its shoul dered recess on the outer wall of well it and the parts are moved together so that the skirt l5 finds its operative position within the well it. A passage 2! may be provided in the bearing member l2 for introducing the liquid into the well. A suitable stopper 22 may be provided to seal this passage after introduction of the liquid.

It is to be understood that changes and variations may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A self-centering mounting for a guide comprising a bracket, a. socketed member in the bracket having a concave spherical bearing surface, an annular well in the socketed member adapted to receive a damping liquid, a floating bearing member adapted to receive and to be secured to the guide, said bearing member having a convex spherical bearing surface adapted to movably engage the concave spherical surface of the socketed member, the socketed member having a bore for receiving the guide, said bore having a diameter greater than the diameter of the guide, the floating bearing member having a depending skirt extending into the well and spaced apart from the walls thereof \at all points. the center of gravity of the assembly of guide and floating bearing member fixed thereto being substantially at the center of curvature of the spherical surfaces.

2. A self-centering mounting for a guide comprising a bracket, a socketed member in the bracket having a concave spherical bearing surface, an annular well in the socketed member adapted to receive a damping liquid, a floating bearing member adapted to receive and to be secured to the guide, said bearing member having a convex spherical bearing surface adapted to movably engage the concave spherical surface of the socketed member, the socketed member having a bore for receiving the guide, said bore having a diameter greater than the diameter of the guide, the floating bearing member having a depending skirt extending into the well and spaced apart from the walls thereof at all points, the center of gravity of the assembly of guide and floating bearing member fixed thereto being substantially at the center of curvature of the spherical surfaces, and sealing means between the socketed member and the floating bearing member to prevent loss of damping liquid.

3. A self-centering mounting for a guide comprising supporting means, an assembly movable relative thereto comprising the guide and bearing means thereon having a spherical bearing surface, said supporting means comprising a socket having a spherical bearing surface to co-operate with the first-mentioned surface and comprising a bore adapted to receive the guide, said bore having a diameter greater than the diameter of the guide, the center of gravity of the movable assembly being substantially at the center of curvature of the spherical surfaces, and means for dampingthe movement of the movable assembly comprising a liquid disposed between opposed surfaces inclined to the horizontal of the assembly and supporting means whereby movement of the assembly effects displacement of at least a portion of the liquid, relative thereto.

ill

4. A mounting for a guide of the type used to introduce filamentary material into rotating buckets comprising a supporting bracket. a socketed member in the bracket having a bore for receiving the guide, said bore having a diameter substantially greater than that of the guide, the socket of the member having a spherical hearing surface, a member on the guide having a spherical bearing surface adapted to co-operate with the spherical surface in the socket, the center of gravity of the guide being substantially at the center of curvature of the spherical surfaces, and means for damping movement of the guide relative to the socket comprising a liquid disposed between opposed surfaces of the two members whereby movement of the second member effects displacement of at least a portion of the liquid relative thereto.

5. A self-centering mounting for a guide comprising supporting means, an assembly movable relative thereto comprising a guide and bearing means thereon having a spherical bearing surface, said supporting means comprising a socket having a spherical bearing surface to co-openate with the first-mentioned surface and comprising a bore adapted to receive the guide, said bore having a diameter greater than the diameter of the guide, the center of gravity of the movable assembly being substantially at the center of curvature of the spherical surfaces, and means comprising a liquid body carried by the supporting means and into which a part of the assembly is partially immersed whereby movement of the assembly effects displacement of at least a portion of the liquid relative thereto for damping the movement of the movable assembly.

SEDDON C. NELSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,402,538 Rittenhouse Jan. 3, 1922 2,019,827 Odajima Nov. 5, 1935 2,402,409 Jones June 18, 1946 

